Poem: My Old Daddy

Remembering the man by bits and pieces.

My Old Daddy

My old daddy used to say
get ‘em young
treat ‘em rough
and tell ‘em nothing
And so how did this philosophy
work out for him?
Married thirty-seven years
to a beautiful woman,
with such a strong sense of balance
that, without ever a demeaning word,
she caused him now and then to pull up short
So aware of his unresolved self-conflict
that I’m not sure he ever recovered
Books could be written on that
and perhaps will be
But he was a man of such sayings,
always delivered with a wink
And what the hell do I make of that?